AMI, Inc. / A-B Motorsports
AMI, Inc. / A-B Motorsports was an English-Swedish-South African racing team founded in 2014. It's the joint venture of AMI, Inc. with A-B Motorsports. The owners of A-B Motorsports are Christoffer Akerlund (older brother of Kenneth Akerlund, EEWA play-by-play announcer) and Mikael Burton. The owner of AMI, Inc., however, was revealed to be professional wrestler Bruno Arnason, on February of 2016. The joint team raced in the WMF Formula GT Championship, with South Africans Jodie Hill (2014-15), Daniel Forster (2014) and Daniel Wexford (2015), as their drivers. The AMI colors are purple and white. A-B colours are dark red and navy blue. With them joining forces, the colours of the car are dark red and white. The joint team would separate after 2 years in the FGTC, as the teams now compete in the championship as AMI, Inc. and A-B Motorsports. History AMI, Inc Founded in 2013, in South Africa, by Bruno Arnason, professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist, AMI, Inc. started with a racers academy, to find drivers to work for the team and race in multiple championships. On March of 2014, it was announced that AMI, Inc. was going to race in the WMF Formula GT Championship, as they fielded Jodie Hill. A-B Motorsports To start talking about A-B Motorsports, it is necessary to start way back to 2011, when Christoffer Akerlund founded the Akerlund Racing. With a similar approach from AMI, Inc, 2 years later, the Akerlund Racing, was a racers academy instead of a proper team. In 2013, Team Burton was founded. Mikael Burton, the owner, however, had a lot of struggling with money. A bit after meeting Akerlund, Mikael Burton suggested him to make the two teams into only one. Akerlund accepted, and Akerlund-Burton Racing Team was founded. On December of 2013, the team became A-B Motorsports. The fusion As AMI, Inc. was already in Formula GT, the team had problems to find the second driver. In the other side, A-B Motorsports wanted to join the championship, and had a driver from Akerlund's drivers academy: Daniel Forster, ready to race anywhere. Seeing this, AMI, Inc. asked A-B Motorsports to make a fusion for the WMF Formula GT Championship. Akerlund and Burton accepted the idea, and the teams became one. WMF Formula GT Championship (2014-2015) 2014 season: Close to the championship trophy On May 23rd, 2014, at the 2014 Anj Grand Prix, the team started with a 4th place (Jodie Hill) and a 6th place (Daniel Forster). Forster managed to score fastest lap. On June 7th, at the 2014 Cam Grand Prix, the team scored their first win in the series with Jodie Hill. Forster, also finished in a podium position, in 3rd place. From that moment, everyone knew that AMI / A-B could be a promising team. Hill became the runner-up in the standings, after that race, tied with Tuomas Sembrant. On June 28th, at the 2014 FGTC USA Grand Prix, Jodie Hill and Daniel Forster finished 4th place in their races. On July 13th, at the 2014 BkH Grand Prix, Hill won his second race in the season. In his race, Forster finished 2nd. Hill took the championship lead, with 80 points. And the team became the new championship leaders between the teams. On July 18th, at the 2014 JhqBy Grand Prix, both had complicated races (4th for Hill, 5th for Forster). With that, Hill tied with Akira Tanahashi in the drivers standings, while AMI / A-B tied with No Name Racing, in the teams standings. On July 31st, at the 2014 FGTC German Grand Prix, Hill finished 5th, as Forster was 4th. Jodie fell to 4th in the championship standings after his atrocious race, as AMI/A-B fell to 4th in the teams standings. On August 8th, Jodie Hill won the 2014 IronB Grand Prix, as Forster was 3rd, with the latter scoring the fastest lap. That win brought Hill back to the championship lead, as AMI/A-B went to 2nd place. On August 17th, at the 2014 Kny Grand Prix, Hill finished 2nd, as Forster was 5th. Hill was still leading the championship, as Forster was in 11th. AMI/A-B fell to 3rd place. On August 21st, at the 2014 MsZ Grand Prix, Hill finished 2nd, after a long battle with race winner Tuomas Sembrant. Forster was 6th, 2 laps back, after an accident. Hill was the championship leader coming to the final round, as Forster was 11th (of 12 drivers) and AMI/A-B having minimal chances of clinching the teams championship. On September 7th, at the 2014 Met85 Grand Prix, Hill only finished 4th, as Forster was 5th. Jodie Hill was the championship runner-up, as Daniel Forster was 11th. AMI/A-B finished in 3rd place. 2015 season: Average season The end of the run of AMI, Inc. / A-B Motorsports Formula GT Championship results 2014 - Car: AAB1 - Drivers: 12 - Jodie Hill (South Africa) and 90 - Daniel Forster (South Africa) - 3rd - 260 points 2015 - Car: AAB2 - Drivers: 12 - Jodie Hill (South Africa) and 90- Daniel Wexford (Rookie) (South Africa) - 4th - 43 points Formula GT Championship team records Debut: 2014 Anj Grand Prix Last race: 2015 FSpires G Grand Prix Rounds: 22 Race victories: 4 Fastest laps: 3 Best championship position - 3rd - 260 points (2014) Category:WMF FGTC teams